March 28, 2024

Principals discuss parent involvement at school board meeting

Next year’s school calendar, Berg construction also discussed

Newton Community School District’s principals were invited to Monday’s school board meeting to discuss parent involvement and what the schools are currently doing to promote it.

At Newton High School, Principal Bill Peters said any way to get parents involved is necessary and good. He said keeping parents engaged as kids get older can be challenging. In addition to traditional parent-teacher conferences, NHS has an abundance of after-school clubs and other ways to get parents involved.

Heavy equipment day, clean-up day after prom, blood drives and choir performances are all examples of activities designed to get parents involved, Peters said.

Berg Middle School also engages parents in a variety of ways. Principal Lisa Sharp said the school has a handful of volunteers who come in to help with fifth-grade reading on a weekly basis. In addition, BMS has various guest speakers and a food pantry that is open to the public every week.

Newton’s elementary principals outlined parent involvement, too. Emerson Hough Principal Jolene Comer said the school has community-based organizations that come and volunteer, such as RSVP and Kiwanis.

“Looking at all the schools, we are fortunate to have so many volunteer hours,” Comer said. “It’s really awesome how much support we get.”

Woodrow Wilson Principal Todd Schuster credited the support of the school’s PTA. He said part of the school’s goal is reaching out to the families that do not typically come out to events.

This week’s school board meeting also featured a brief discussion of the district’s transiency report. Newton schools have seen a net increase of 22 students since Oct. 1. NCSD gained 75 new students, and 53 students left the district so far this school year.

Updates on the new BMS construction were delivered by Superintendent of Schools Bob Callaghan. He reviewed the building designs, which are nearing completion. The board will vote to approve a final construction document in March. Callaghan said everything is going according to schedule.

The School Improvement Advisory Committee (SIAC) presented an update on the 2017-2018 school calendar on Monday. There are currently multiple drafts for next year’s calendar. A couple of SIAC’s key items of consideration were doing what is best for students and concern that student contact time is not reduced.

A District Instructional Leadership Team (DILT) subcommittee developed calendar models. The calendars are designed to allow for both ample student contact time and sufficient time for teachers to collaborate and develop professionally with each other, according to DILT.

The human resources update at the board meeting revealed that Amy Blasius was offered a contract to teach special education at the middle school. Jenny Moore will also transfer to the middle school to be a behavioral interventionist.

Mark Burnett’s retirement, which will be effective in May, was made public. Burnett is currently a TLC coordinator and has been with the district for 30 years. Board President Travis Padget said that he was one of Burnett’s first students. Padget thanked Burnett for his contributions. Resignations from Tara Allen with the color guard and Krista McNew as assistant volleyball coach were also announced.

Contact Justin Jagler at 641-792-3121 ext 6532 or jjagler@newtondailynews.com